'The GAA Player who Performs in Front of 70,000 at the Weekend Will Be Teaching Your Kids on Monday'

Irish Cricket Team Defeats England in World Cup

To be honest, while we're always happy to beat the English (no offence England :) ) this victory means nothing to the vast majority of Irish people because it isn't a hugely popular sport over here. Will we say "yay" of course we will, and we'll be happy with the win, and proud of the guys. But lifting the national spirit? I think Enda Kenny is just looking for any happy story.

Scientists Deny Existence of Breaking Curveball

ESPN Launching New Brand for Women

Have to agree with DiCaro. Why on earth would you create a separate identity when you are covering the same sport, unless you are seriously going to change your method of reporting on it. Which I'm guessing will involve sparkling it up somehow.

Urgh. When i watch sport I want to watch sport, not some marketing notion of what appeals to a female sports fan.
I have no issue with increasing coverage of women's sports, but that doesn't seem to be what this is about.

New Film Stars Eric Cantona as a Hallucination

If anyone is thinking about going to see this film I really can't recommend it enough. It came out in the UK/Ire last year. It is a black comedy, with plenty of bleakness in it, but then again it is a Ken Loach film, however I don't think it is too depressing.

Irish Keane to be Given Extra World Cup Spot

FIFA opens case against Thierry Henry for handball

On the one hand: Urgh. Can we just drop this whole incident already. Most football fans I know were over it the day after it happened. The only reason the FAI aren't is because it is means a loss of revenue.

On the other hand: I'm all for after match citations. I think games should be scrutinised after the fact and players who cheat and dive should be punished.

Irish Keane to be Given Extra World Cup Spot

I think the whole idea of asking could we(being Ireland) could be team 33 is ridiculous. But its just as ridiculous for Blatter to bring it up in that fashion at a press conference. All of Ireland knows the FAI are morons. They've just proven that fact to the world.

What we all should really be whining about is bloody Ritchie McCaw getting player of the year when he's been out for half of it, and BOD has played brilliantly in every game.

Boxer Paco Rodriguez Dies After Title Fight

German MNT keeper Enke in apparent suicide

And while I can sorta understand Drood's take on the method Enke used to commit suicide, I really don't think that people who haven't suffered from depression can't understand how it makes you think. And the way it messes with any rational thoughts.

Soccer fan shoots player dead

A New Trifecta

High School Hazing Rears its Ugly Head Again

I don't think it is a "homosexual" act. It is rape and as with most rapes it is all about power.

"According to a state police report, an assistant coach told the other coaches during training camp "that some sort of hazing incident involving broomsticks was happening." Another coach walked into a cabin to see "a player on his stomach on the ground, with his legs spread open," while a teammate held a broomstick, the police report said. The coach told the players to "cut it out" and the group broke up."

Munster take their second European title

Aye, the supporters in Limerick got treated to a three man haka at their celebrations yesterday, that's a sign that we have more southern players than we're used to :) Course it isn't great news for Irish rugby, the big three might manage to gather a couple of quid together, but in comparison to the major English and French clubs they have a miniscule budget.

Unbeaten Big Brown comes through to win Kentucky Derby.

A recent article in Scientific American says that there is a lot of work being put into preventing these break-downs. Hard to tell if it'll work or not, but at least something is being done. It also points out that although there is speculation over inherited defects, as of yet, there isn't really any proof one way or the other.

Puerto Rican Track Kills Losing Thoroughbreds

A lot of the problems with rehoming racehorses is that they need a lot of work to turn them from animals who only need to run into animals that are safe to handle and can listen to what their rider wants. It isn't the fault of the horses, they aren't trained to obey aids that a general all-rounder needs to learn. To be totally honest, if the killings are done humanely then I don't have a huge problem with it. It is sad, and in a perfect world it wouldn't be done, but this isn't a perfect world.

Unbeaten Big Brown comes through to win Kentucky Derby.

Horse-racing is most dangerous sport out there for the athletes involved. I've no great love for flat racing. The horses are too young to be running like that so many times in close succession. Not to mention over bred. They run for a year and then either end up on the rubbish pile or retire in glory. But I still enjoy the odd National Hunt race. In many ways more dangerous than flat racing, but the horses are around for so much longer, often becoming such iconic figures.

10 spectacles of sport to see before you die.

There are always going to be the "but what about X sport" in these lists. That's part of the fun, imo, seeing what one person would include and another would exclude. That being said, most of those on the list look like they'd be worth a trip. I'd include the Super Bowl too though, and I'm not even American.

"This fella, Ronaldo, he's a cod"

"This fella, Ronaldo, he's a cod"

Or to put it another way, why do people take such an instant dislike to him? - I'd agree owlhouse, only there are those out there who are rabid fans of his, proclaiming him the greatest footballer of the time. And of course there is a segment of female fans out there who think he is sex on legs. I really don't see it. To me he looks like a big gangly calf, only without the cute factor. I think it is because those earrings he tends to wear remind me of the ear tags that cattle wear.

"This fella, Ronaldo, he's a cod"

I'm not sure if this warrants an FPP. So I won't cry if it gets deleted, just thought it was an interesting clip, and perspective from some former players. I've never been a huge fan of Ronaldo. He scores some great goals, but overall, as Dunphy says, his behaviour on the pitch makes me admire him less. Yes, I hate that I'm agreeing with Eamonn Dunphy, but it happens sometimes.

Italian to lead the Irish.

The reaction here so far is mostly positive. There are a few comments being made regarding the fact that business man Denis O'Brien will be paying half of Trappatoni's salary. I'm in a positive frame of mind at the moment, so I say yay!

Kicking the ball to Holland.

Chief Wahoo: A Modest Proposal.

I am Irish and I have no problem with all the Irish jokes that abound out there. Well I too am Irish, red-hair, freckles and everything, and while I don't have a "problem" with Oirishness it can be a bit annoying. Most of the time problems like this are because of history and the fact that one term can have so much more animosity loaded into it than another. Just because one person doesn't have a problem with something doesn't mean it isn't offensive. After all I think the idea of snacking on babies is a great one. Other people may object, of course, I paid attention to Fat Bastard when he told me about Baby back ribs

England beat France

I don't think so owlhouse, because that is still rugby, just a different style of rugby. That being said I really, really don't want England to win. But I don't want SA to win either. So it is a lose-lose situation. I'm guessing once the match starts I'll cheer for SA. It seems to me though that no team has really gone out and won a big match, instead their opposition have lost games through mistakes. Scotland could have won against Argentina if they'd had a bit of belief earlier. New Zealand made plenty of mistakes in their game, and blaming the ref is just taking the loss badly (though it was a forward pass). Course I read articles like this on on The Roar which has lines like "there are some damning statistics about a spike in women requiring refuge on Sunday October the seventh" and it makes me glad that we don't take our rugby that seriously.

40 games down

We tend to have a love/hate relationship with Aussie Rules owlhouse. We love to see Irish fellas doing well over there, but we hate to see them leave. Although Setanta and Aisaike O hAilpin manage to combine playing AFL and club GAA games, which is nice :)

40 games down

England are rubbish, and maybe that is why I can support them. I know that they haven't a hope of winning. Although could you imagine the media if they did.... Maybe I can't support them after all ;) I don't buy the whole "support the HM" guff either JJ, I just don't understand it, although i do tend to support Scotland most of the time, if they aren't playing Ireland of course, so I'm going against the norm for that match. I can't see Argentina joining the Six Nations. Not under the current set up at any rate. The clubs would not be happy at another weekend lost. I would love to see them getting into one of the yearly competitions, but it'd probably be better for them to join the Tri-Nations. I do think that for all the alterations to the laws of the game the IRB would be better off trying to rearrange the fixtures. The Six Nations should have a relegation aspect to it, that would encourage the other European "minnows" and offer them more competition when promoted.

40 games down

40 games down

I know owlhouse, I know. As I've explained to some other people I have a soft spot for Martin Corry. Which is so weird because I don't like him at all. But I'd like to see Jason Robinson have another go.

40 games down

30 points is a large margin Ricardo. But you'll often find that a more "established" team will score a lot more in the second half after wearing down the opposition in the first. Plus, once one team is in the lead the other may take more chances and so play a riskier game, and the leading team can sit back and wait for the mistakes to happen. Your maths is right, 4 converted tries = 28 points. I've made my decisions for the next round; I'm going to be cheering on France when they play the All Blacks ; Argentina when they play Scotland ; Fiji when they play South Africa ; England when they play[12] Australia. I may burn in hell for some of those choices ;)

The Boys With Green Hair

On the one hand I can see the IRB's problem with this. It is against the rules. But then again, it isn't, because Paddy Power aren't paying the Tongans to dye their hair, it is just something they decided to do. I'll be cheering on Tonga, they played some great rugby this tournament, England, not so much.

Austria fans petition for Austria-free Euro 2008

I don't know much about Austrian football but I can't say I agree with the petition. They may say they aren't criticising the players, but giving out that they don't play attractive football is, imo, criticising them. And if your team aren't able to play beautifully then all you can ask is that they try their best.

Sportsmanship hasn't gone away.

When they were talking about it on the news they also showed footage of other similar incidents, like when Di Canio caught the ball after the opposition goalkeeper was injured (Video link). It is nice to see that spirit of sport still around.

Sportsmanship hasn't gone away.

Stephen Ireland busted for lying.

Howard T, both that FAI and Steven Staunton, the manager, have said that if Stephen Ireland had told the truth of course he would have been allowed to go home to be with her. If the reports are accurate it was the girlfriend who rang up, didn't get through to Ireland but told some official that there was an emergency, a granny had died, and that that he needed to come home. He then rang back, found out the truth, but went along with the lie.

Stephen Ireland busted for lying.

I'm guessing it was the girlfriend who didn't want the world to know about a personal loss like that. What right do any of us have to pry into his affairs? Should he have said a granny died? No. But wanting to keep a miscarriage personal is their right. He should have said there was a family emergency. But ever think that maybe he just wasn't thinking straight and wanted to get home to the presumably upset girlfriend? So a stupid stupid thing to do, but forgiveable, imo.

The 6th Rugby World Cup

I'm pretty speechless after our performance. Only winning 32-17! And so many mistakes. If it weren't for the equally rubbish warm-up matches I'd simply discount it as a one-off. Still, I'm determined to try and stay positive. After all we got our win, and our bonus point, and we can play so much better. I just hope this was the kick in the arse we needed. So far all the SH teams are totally outplaying the NH. New Zealand were superb. It took a little longer for the Wallabies and Springboks to get going but then easily disposed of the opposition. All the "home nations" had poor games, although Scotland probably put on the best performance, and Ireland the worst.